Execution
by Ashplosion
Summary: If XCOM had a legitimate defector, what thoughts would go through his mind during his last moments? (Rated M for language and violence; based on the 2012 reimagining of this great DOS game)


In her two years with XCOM, no one had ever seen Colonel Madeline "The Missionary" Roux smile… until now. William Crawford looked down at the cuffs around his wrists, then back up to Col. Roux. He had mostly watched her evolve from trembling rookie to the calm killer she was now.

"I must confess," she started, "that XCOM was surprised when its first colonel defected to the aliens. What could you have possibly been thinking, Septic?" Crawford frowned, but kept his mouth shut.

He remembered the mission where they had received their nicknames. He and Roux killed more aliens than the other four soldiers had combined. Corporal Markus Klein had pumped his laser rifle. "You're positively fuckin' septic, Crawford!" It stuck. A moment later, a group of Thin Men had surprised them; Roux had taken them out with ease.

"What the fuck are you, Roux? A god damn missionary, sent to save us all?" Crawford himself had given her the nickname.

Then there was the mission in Argentina. The Commander had ordered Crawford to take out a Berserker that had crawled on top of him. He saw pain in its eyes as he delivered the final shot—it had been that moment he knew he must leave XCOM. He had lost sight of the mission. Minjoon Jung, their newest heavy, dashed in his direction and crouched next to him. "You okay, Sep?" Crawford had nodded, visibly shaken. The group returned to base, and he'd immediately been ordered into psionic testing. Ten grueling days later, he proved to be the only soldier XCOM had hired with any psionic capability thus far. The only soldier that hadn't gone through the testing, The Missionary, was promptly shoved into the chamber. Before he knew what was happening, another group was herded into the Skyranger to deal with an Ethereal overseer ship in Nigeria.

The mission had gone wrong from the word go. Crawford was pretty sure most of his squad were new hires—XCOM had taken some heavy losses the month before; 12 of the 19 or so soldiers at the base had been wounded badly, and a couple had been lost. He was certainly the most experienced of the squad. Markus "Bonus" Klein, now a Lieutenant, was also there, as was Minjoon Jung. Three other soldiers, Martin Fischer, a heavy from Germany, Jacqueline Fourier, a support from France, and Juan Garza, a Sniper from Spain, accompanied the more experienced crew. As the squad moved toward the UFO, a group of Muton Elites surprised them from the side. Jun, Fischer and Fourier hit the ground before the group could react. Klein ducked into cover and panicked, spraying wild plasma all over the battle ground. An enemy went down, but another alien reacted and landed a shot squarely between Klein's eyes. Garza was much too far away from cover for it to be of any use.

Then it spoke to him.

Crawford had never known such pain.

"We will take you with us, New One," it had told him. "Kill him and step into the light." Crawford ceased to think; Garza fell to "friendly" fire. The remaining human dashed toward the Ethereal; the alien created the illusion of the soldier's death for the pilot.

A long month went by before Crawford had been recaptured in battle. The Missionary now faced him; she had been the one to interrogate him in Dr. Vahlen's presence. The scientist had learned much about the psionic gift through the interrogation, and the commander had learned exactly what this war had done to someone as quiet and timid as Roux had once been. Crawford confessed everything, and the commander stepped into the room. She was a young woman, no more than 25. Her frown told him everything her voice could not convey as she sentenced him to execution.

Three days later, he was standing cuffed in the alien containment chamber—his current location. The Missionary had been ordered to perform his execution. She entered the room with old comrades. Ryo "Ghost" Yamada and Alessia "Combo" Conti stood guard at the door, armed with alloy cannons and plasma pistols. Missionary herself carried no weapon other than her sidearm. All three soldiers were equipped with the latest Titan armor. The commander joined them shortly, dressed in her standard khaki slacks and XCOM sweater.

"Please leave, Major Yamada, Colonel Conti." The soldiers saluted and did as request. The commander moved next to the Missionary. "Colonel William "Septic" Crawford. You have been charged with treason not only against your home country of the United States of America, but against the Council of Funding Nations and the planet Earth, as well as humanity. You have confessed to these crimes and plead guilty as charged. Do you have any last requests?"

Crawford shook his head.

"You have been sentenced to execution. Colonel Roux, are you prepared to execute your comrade, Colonel Crawford?"

"Yes, Commander."

"Then I advise you to fire at will."

And there sat Crawford, dumbfounded, as Roux advanced, leveled her plasma pistol at her head, and smiled. The through reoccurred to him as she pulled the trigger, that he had never seen her smi-


End file.
